Details about the president's condition were difficult to come by. During the first few weeks of the leave, the University never provided independent confirmation of its claim that Rudenstine was at home resting. Repeated phone calls to the president and his immediate family went unreturned; requests for any kind of contact with Rudenstine went for naught.

In the middle of December, the News Office gave The Crimson a photo of Rudenstine and Carnesale, and said that the picture had been taken at a Mass. Hall holiday party.

On December 19, the Corporation, the University's higher governing board, announced that Rudenstine would return to work in February.

On February 23, Rudenstine returned to Mass. Hall promising to delegate more to his aides.

And indeed, Rudenstine quickly allocated to Carnesale significant responsibility for international fundraising efforts as part of the University's $2.1 billion capital campaign.

Carnesale, who is serving concurrently as dean of the Kennedy School of Government until later this month, also assumed some of Rudenstine's lobbying responsibilities, the provost said at the time.

Still, the late winter was not all good news for the University. When Newsweek decided to do a cover story on fatigue in American life, it chose Rudenstine for its cover in a move that insiders say was highly embarrassing to the University.

Rudenstine's Reflections

Rudenstine says now that he believes he was correct in deciding to take the leave, despite whatever bad publicity the decision may have brought to the University.

"I did what I thought was the best thing, not just for myself but for the University, really, I think that's the important thing," the president says. "I would not say anything was for purely personal [reasons]. I needed some rest in order to be able to work."

Rudenstine adds that he needed to make sure he was completely rested before continuing the job.

"You can only work very effectively if you're feeling that you have not just the requisite energy but the extra energy to do so, and I thought that was important for recovery," he says.

When asked to reflect on the reasons for his fatigue, Rudenstine points to a variety of time-consuming--and time-dependent--items on his agenda during his first three years in office.

First, Rudenstine had to spend enormous amounts of time getting to know the people, programs and departments of the University. Rudenstine had earned a Ph.D. in English from Harvard in 1964 and served as a lecturer and associate professor for four years after that. But for the 23 years before he was named president in 1991, Rudenstine worked at Princeton University and at the Mellon Foundation.

Second, Rudenstine had to lead the charge in the planning of the University's $2.1 billion capital campaign, a fundraising drive more ambitious than any previous campaign in the history of higher education. The campaign kicked off officially in May 1994, but planning for the drive had been on Rudenstine's plate since his first days in office.